Chapter 11
"Sit down."
I hesitated before I slowly lowered myself down to one of Pan's chairs that were stationed in his dark and gloomy hut. I crossed my arms in front of my chest and let my eyes follow Pan's tall and dark silhouette as it disappeared behind a curtain made of animal skin.
I looked around and analyzed his resident in awe. It was a hell of a lot bigger than mine and he had the most outstanding and beautiful furniture I ever saw. Not that it was made out of gold and expensive fabrics, no almost everything was made out of wood and had deep earth tinted colors and yet it was still really amazing and special.
The air though, was a little bit tensed. There was no denying that. It had been ever since I was obligated to follow Pan back to his hut.
I tried to stay calm since that was all I could do now. I fiddled with my clammy hands and stared at the view in front of me. I knew that Pan was keeping an eye on me from wherever the hell he was, so bailing the place wasn't a good idea. Believe me, I don't have a exile wish yet. I inhaled calmly and waited for Pan to return, which didn't take as long as I thought it would.
He returned not much later holding a glass of water in his hands. He cautiously looked at me, watching every move I made, locking it in his mind. I felt like a trapped animal, who just got caught doing something he was forbidden to do. What did surprise me though, was that Pan didn't said any words, which made me wonder what I was even doing here.
He took a seat in front of me, his foot casually rested on the edge of his dark brown wooden table. His hand tightly clung around the glass while the other rested on his other leg. He stared at his glass for a while, eyes finding the splashy water for what it seemed deeply interesting. After a moment he broke the long awaited silence with a unsuspected surprise I didn't see coming.
"I know it was Fox." He suddenly noted, forest green eyes averting from his glass to me.
My gut dropped and my mouth fell wide open. What the hell?! He knew? How is that even possible? Why didn't he say anything? Fox told me that he didn't get caught and I believed him until this moment.
I gazed into his deep green eyes in awe and shook my head in surprise. He had literally no expression on his face so it was hard for me to read where he was taking this conversation to.
"How did you-" I choked out, furrowing my eyebrows.
"Doesn't matter." He interrupted, swaying his hand in dismissal.
I frowned at his irritated behavior and he clearly took a note of it, but then again, he didn't seemed faced by it.
He dropped his foot from the table and switched his sitting position into a serious one. His smug facial expression had now changed into a serious frown. He bit his lower lip, making me very uncomfortable.
He stared at me, eyes not deviating from my face and frame. He was definitely over-thinking something. You could tell by his sudden change of expression and the way he kept quiet. After a minute or so, he let out a soft chuckle, shaking his head slowly.
"You know William I never knew that a boy like you would take the blame for something he didn't do."
What? He is literally giving me credit for lying and breaking the rules?
"Thanks... I guess?" I mumbled.
He paused, looking directly at me before carrying on.
"That doesn't necessarily has to be a good thing." He said smugly, raising his eyebrows again.
"Oh.." I just whispered.
I watched him stand up from his seat and he let out a silent huff. I crossed my legs and clutched my upper arm as I felt a cold breeze touch my skin. What was I doing here again? He cleared his throat and clearly wanted to carry on this 'deep' conversation he was having with me.
Though I respected and tolerated him, I felt no need to respond and act upon his lecture of me making the right choices. I am not a child anymore.
For a moment he gave me a semi sympathetic smile, making me raise my eyebrows skeptically.
"Well I do respect your decisions. Not a lot of people here would've done that."
A small smile tugged at the ends of my lips. That was really unexpected, but it did felt good. Who am I kidding, it felt more than good. A spark emerged from the pit of my stomach. This was the first time, I actually did something good according to someone else. For once I wasn't a f*uck up and it felt great.
"Why?" I asked, trying to hide my true excitement.
"They're just scared." He answered simply, without even a hint of hesitation behind it.
"Scared of what?" I questioned, with furrowed eyebrows.
"Getting what they deserve I suppose."
A silence fell. Clearly not a comfortable one. Nope, the complete opposite actually. At least from my side. Peter just gazed at me with glazed eyes. There was no way of properly reading this boy. He was just... Complicated?
I now understood why the lost boys were nervous around him. He was a firm leader I learned throughout the days and I guess he wasn't afraid to hand out punishments. I never experienced one of his punishments nor did I see another person getting one, but I guess they aren't much fun. And that explains a lot.
"You know William, let this talk be a lesson. You're not getting punished. At least for now, but if you ever stand up for someone else, better be sure that the same person will have your back when you're in trouble."
I nodded and that was all I needed to hear. I got up and rushed my way out of Pan's hut. I ignored his eye piercing looks along the way and let out a silent huff of relief as soon as I closed his door.
(Later on that day)
"This is Austin. He's the one you'll be sparring with today." Felix, Pan's loyal right hand told me.
"Take this." He handed me a small ten inch dagger from the armory we had that was next to the practicing fields. We never fought with daggers, but I suppose that there's a first time for everything. I gladly took it and thanked him with a quiet mumble. He walked away soon after that and went to stand next to Pan who was watching everything that was happening on the fields.
I glanced up at a boy that immediately caught my attention as soon as his honey brown eyes found mine. He gave me a cheeky grin, making his crooked teeth show a little. He was definitely a tease, I could tell. He had this vibe of smugness all over him that was clearly undeniable.
His very thick eyebrows were up in a scrunched up position and he tilted his head teasingly. He had thick and dark brown hair that was combed sideways. You could say, that you could compare his hair to the free waves of an restless ocean. It was wavy, thick and very unruly. He was one head taller than me and his frame was just as lean as a wooden plank.
"You're up for a fight, shorty?" He teased, wiggling his thick eyebrows. I chuckled mockingly, before replying.
"Nah, perhaps we should have a cup of tea first, before I kick your tiny little ass. Start of civil aye?"
"Feisty aren't you?" He spoke, smugness written all of his sharp face.
It started off as none other than playful teasing, but before I knew it, I found myself on the bumpy jungle ground clutching my left cheek and cursing so loud that I was sure mermaids from the other side of the island had heard me.
Austin grinned down upon me. "Maybe perhaps, we should've drank that tea first, it would've given you a opportunity to re-think that demented idea of you 'beating my little ass'." He said, smugly waving his dagger for all to see the crimson drip of its steel.
I huffed in annoyance at my defeat and looked at my hand to see that it was covered with wine colored blood.
After ten minutes of playful banter, that alternated between, beating, hitting, the sound of daggers slashing against each other, and so on- I footing faltered over an un deep pit in the ground. That didn't really help the case at all when Austin took this as an opportunity to swipe at me with his venomous blade, making a decent cut along the hollow of my left cheek.
He reached out his hand for me to get up, which I gladly refused. I was more than fed up by the fact that I just got beaten by a teenage boy.
I got up by myself and was still clutching my still bleeding cheek. Its blood seeped through my fingers and the wound burned uncontrollably. He shrugged at my hostility and smirked teasingly.
"Ah, you're one sore loser huh?" He chuckled.
"Shut up." I hissed through my teeth.
"See." He pointed out with a chuckle.
"Are you always this smug?" I asked, giving him a hard punch in his shoulder. He gasped loudly and gave me a semi harsh glare while I smirked a little at him. He rubbed his arm while wincing slightly.
"Nah, only when I beat somebody's ass."
Of course he is...
"You should patch that up." He pointed out, nodding to the wound on my cheek. I touched my bloody cheek and winced slightly at the touch of it.
He was right. It burned like a bitch and if I waited any longer, it would probably get infected. I can imagine that it wasn't a pretty sight to look at and it'll probably leave a nasty scar too. Great, just what I needed. My ass kicked and a nasty scar.
The stinging feeling got worse by the minute and it seemed only to feed Austin's smirk even more.
Stupid, self-centered bastard.
I took off, not giving Austin the satisfaction of my pain and humiliation.
He was right, I was one sore loser.
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Hey
it might be boring now, but in about two chapters, the real story line will make a huge progres and will become a hell of a lot more excting. I promise!
So please, stick around! The excitment starts next chapter :)
Xxxx ikimmilove
